World Forum on Human Rights debates violence against children

Brasília – The observance of human rights and the fight against the many sorts of violence were topics addressed on Friday (Dec. 13), the last day of the World Forum on Human Rights. Among the themes debated were not only violence against children, women and indigenous people, but also police brutality during the popular demonstrations recently staged in Brazil.

Marta Santos Pais, a representative from the Secretariat General of the United Nations, reminded the audience that a project has been submitted to the National Congress in an attempt to forbid physical punishments against minors, and make society aware that Brazil is capable of raising a child with discipline and in accordance with human rights.

She went on to say that violence should no longer be a matter for regret. Rather, it should be treated as a problem to be prevented: “We must not think that the child is a citizen that can be oriented, educated and disciplined through violence. This notion still exists in society.”

Studies conducted in Europe on violence against children have showed that around 18 million of them are victims of sexual abuse, 44 million of physical violence, and 55 million suffer or have suffered from psychological abuse. Every year 1.5 billion children are somehow affected by violence all across the globe.

A survey carried out by Marta Santos to analyze how policy-making agendas are drawn up in over 100 countries reveals that most nations do not include the prevention of violence against children in their agendas.

The issue is found on the agenda of a mere 16% of the countries. Out of the total number of surveyed countries, 5% have legal devices for the protection of children, and 10% do not have enough information on their violence rates. The data were collected from police emergency lines and hospitals. In Brazil, there is a service entitled Disque 100 (English: “Dial 100”) for people to report cases of violence against minors. Most countries surveyed do have a service of this kind.

Edited by Marcos Chagas / Lícia Marques
Translated by Fabrício Ferreira